


let down your hair

by mixians



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: F/M, Genderswitch
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-14
Updated: 2013-12-14
Packaged: 2018-01-04 16:03:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1082970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mixians/pseuds/mixians
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>after years of searching for rapunzel, joonmyun's finally found her... or has he? super late birthday fic for anu!</p>
            </blockquote>





	let down your hair

It’s always been Joonmyun’s dream to marry a princess. Ever since he was a kid, he’s wanted to be like the next Prince Charming, maybe save some poor maiden from the clutches of the evil witch holding her captive, or wake a girl from her spell-induced sleep with a kiss. So when he hears the stories about Rapunzel, the girl with hair that’s _miles_ long who’s been trapped high up in a tower all her life, of course he goes to find her. Even though the search seems endless as day after day goes by, Joonmyun is still bursting with excitement over the idea that when he finds her, he’ll be forever known as Rapunzel’s Prince Charming! He’ll be a _hero_. And his parents will finally stop nagging about him finding a wife. (And, well. Maybe he’s a little lonely, too.)

Joonmyun has been searching for years now, calling on the palace guards for help, and even offering a reward to anyone who can tell him Rapunzel’s true location, but after that was met with a resounding silence, he decided to go search for her himself. This is his third week in the forest. He’s pretty sure he’s only almost died about… eight times now.

But when he steps into the clearing, sees the impossibly tall tower ahead of him, he knows it’s all been worth it.

 

 

~~~

 

 

 

Jongdae tugs the stone door of the tower closed as she gathers up as much of her hair as she can into her arms, making her way up the stairs. It’s always gross when stuff gets caught in it as she walks.

The large wooden door at the top of the stairs is as heavy as ever as she shoves it open with one shoulder, careful not to get any hair caught in it as it swings shut again, leaving her in peaceful, comfortable silence. This is her favorite thing about this place—it’s almost dead silent when it’s so high up, and so far from town that few venture here often, apart from the occasional suitor looking for the fabled Rapunzel. Jongdae usually manages to scare them off, anyways. You’d think the people that claim to be heroes would be braver, at least a little more persevering, but one glare from Jongdae can send most of them running.

Sometimes she wonders, though, if there really was someone trapped here—there are shelves packed with books that are yellowing with age, and when she’d first found the place, everything was covered in a thick layer of dust. Like no one had been here in years. And both of the doors looked like they’re a part of the wall; Jongdae only ever found the entrance to the tower because the first time she came, she’d fallen against it in exhaustion—it’s not easy carrying ten feet of hair around with you when you’re only ten—and the weight of her pushed the door wide open. There are some closets and cupboards around the room, too, but Jongdae isn’t fond of having to fend off spiders, so she never looks. But she wonders.

It’s a nice day today, not too warm and not too drafty, and just the right amount of light pours in from the windows on all sides of the room at the top of the tower. Jongdae smiles a little, and settles down with another book from the shelf; she’s determined to get through them all someday. When she’s not busy helping her mother with her job as a seamstress, it’s good to come up here and practice reading the way she hasn’t been able to since her father passed away and she had to stop going to school. This, Jongdae thinks, is her favorite place.

The easy quiet is broken by someone’s shout. “Hello!”

Jongdae sighs and sets her book down, looking out one window to see what it is.

There’s a man, dressed in fancy clothes that look far too thick for summer, standing towards the base of the tower, looking up. “I,” he shouts, voice tiny, “am the royal heir Prince Joonmyun! I’m here to…”

Oh, it’s the prince. He’s been looking for Rapunzel ever since she can remember. Always unattainable, but still every girl in the kingdom’s dream—you want what you can’t have, right? But Jongdae isn’t one of those girls.

“Rapunzel, Rapunzel,” Joonmyun calls, “let down your hair!”

“My name isn’t Rapunzel,” Jongdae says, frowning down at him from the tower. But she finds herself letting her hair down anyway. From high up, she can see Joonmyun smiling like all his dreams have come true. He probably thinks they have.

“I’m coming, my fair maiden!” Joonmyun shouts, climbing his way up her long braids, and Jongdae winces.

“Do you _have_ to come up that way? This hurts,” she complains. Joonmyun doesn’t seem to hear her. “Seriously. I’m not Rapunzel. That story isn’t even _real_.”

Joonmyun falls down when he’s five feet up. Jongdae sighs. “There are _stairs_! Why don’t you climb those?”

“I’m coming to save you, my Rapunzel!” Joonmyun starts climbing up again, painstakingly slowly, and Jongdae gives him a look. He doesn’t see it.

“My name isn’t Rapunzel, moron!” she shouts, and Joonmyun looks up at her in shock, still climbing steadily higher.

“So who are you?” he asks, and Jongdae can’t help but admire the way the light hits his face when it’s tilted up at her like this, the way his arms look in his ugly, expensive vest. Even though he’s kind of annoying. “If you’re not Rapunzel, why is your hair so long?”

“Because I don’t like cutting it! Do I need to have a reason?” Jongdae glares. Joonmyun looks a little bit afraid.

“If you’re not Rapunzel,” Joonmyun starts again, frowning handsomely, “then why are you here? This is Rapunzel’s tower.”

“I like it here,” Jongdae sniffs. “It’s quiet up here. Peaceful.”

Joonmyun’s finally climbed all the way up, miraculously, and his face peeks over the ledge of the window. He’s even more attractive up close, Jongdae thinks, and quickly tries to shove the thought away—he’s just another stupid prince come to save the fabled Rapunzel, of course.

“Well,” he says breathlessly, cheeks flushed a faint pink from exertion, “I think you’re pretty enough to be Rapunzel, too.”

“That was terrible,” Jongdae snorts, but she can feel the heat rising up in her cheeks anyways. “What if Rapunzel was ugly?”

Joonmyun frowns. “I don’t think anyone is ugly. Everyone’s pretty in their own way, don’t you think?”

And _oh_ , Jongdae knows why everyone says the prince is so charming now. “Yeah,” she says, and that’s when she realizes he’s still clinging to the ledge of the window for dear life. “Here, I’ll help you get in.”

“Thank you,” Joonmyun says, climbing through and dusting his clothes off. Jongdae never dreamed she’d ever be in such close proximity with him; she sort of feels like she can’t breathe. But it’s just because it’s a little stuffy today. Right.

“You’ve been looking for her for a long time, haven’t you?” Jongdae asks, and Joonmyun shrugs.

“I have, but lately I’ve been doubting myself a little. Asking myself if this is what I really want. Should it matter if I marry a princess or not?” Joonmyun leans back against the side of the window and frowns again. “I wanted to be a hero. But it was kind of a silly idea, wasn’t it?”

“Everyone has dreams,” Jongdae says. “It’s not that silly, if you think about it.”

Joonmyun smiles, and his eyes curve up into crescents. “Thanks. And… I know you’re not a princess or anything, but do you think we could have lunch sometime? At the palace.”

“Y-yeah,” she says. It’s almost as if she’s fallen under his spell, just like all those other girls. Maybe there was something in the berries she found on the way here. “Of course.”

“Great,” Joonmyun says, and then looks out the window apprehensively. “But first, is there another way for me to get down? I… don’t like heights. At all.”

“No, that’s the only way,” Jongdae deadpans. Joonmyun looks down at the ground again and gulps, and Jongdae snickers. “Of course there’s another way down. How do you think I get up here every day?”

“Right,” Joonmyun says, grin sheepish, and follows as Jongdae shows him the stairs. “I’ll see you?”

“Yeah,” Jongdae says. “I’m looking forward to it.” And as Joonmyun heads back into the forest with a wave, Jongdae thinks that maybe she really is.


End file.
